Henkel AG & Co KGaA : Henkel reconfirms 2012 targets

04/16/2012 | 05:30am US/Eastern

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At today's Annual General Meeting, Henkel CEO Kasper
Rorsted outlined the main success drivers for the company's
business performance in 2011. "Henkel recorded the best
year in its company history. We fully met all our financial
targets and even overdelivered on a number of them. The
strong focus on our vision and values and on our strategic
priorities, as well as the global footprint of our company
significantly contributed to this achievement."

Henkel shareholders will also benefit from this strong
performance. "We are proposing to the Annual General
Meeting to increase the dividend per preferred share from
0.72 to 0.80 euros and the dividend per ordinary share from
0.70 to 0.78 euros," Rorsted announced. "Since 2008 our
dividend has thus increased by more than 50 percent."

Simone Bagel-Trah, Chairwoman of the Shareholders'
Committee and of the Supervisory Board, thanked the
Management Board and all employees for the excellent
results achieved and their dedication and commitment in
2011.

"Good start to fiscal 2012"
Commenting on the company's performance at the beginning of
fiscal 2012, Rorsted said: "We had a good start to 2012."
For further details he referred to the publication of the
first quarter results on May 9.

For the full year 2012 Rorsted confirmed the targets as
previously announced at the company's annual results press
conference in March. "We expect organic sales growth for
the full fiscal year to be between 3 and 5 percent. We also
expect to increase our adjusted EBIT margin to 14 percent
and to improve adjusted earnings per preferred share by at
least 10 percent."

Referring to the current economic environment, Rorsted
reiterated the need to constantly adapt existing structures
and workflows: "We have to accept higher volatility in our
markets as the 'new normal'. As a consequence, we have to
permanently adapt our processes and structures to be able
to respond more quickly and more flexibly than our peers."
As other key success factors for the future, Rorsted
emphasized the further strengthening of Henkel's top
brands, a continuous flow of innovations and the expansion
of the company's position in the emerging markets.

Rorsted also highlighted the strategic importance of
sustainability for the company: "We are committed to
further expanding our leading position in sustainability."
Summarizing Henkel's new long-term strategy in this field,
Rorsted said: "We want to achieve more with less."
Therefore Henkel has set itself the ambitious goal of
tripling its efficiency by the year 2030. "To achieve this
ambitious long-term goal, we either have to triple the
value we create while leaving the footprint at the same
level. Or we reduce our footprint to one third of today's
level by delivering the same value."

This document contains forward-looking statements which
are based on the current estimates and assumptions made by
the corporate management of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA.
Forward-looking statements are characterized by the use of
words such as expect, intend, plan, predict, assume,
believe, estimate, anticipate and similar formulations.
Such statements are not to be understood as in any way
guaranteeing that those expectations will turn out to be
accurate. Future performance and the results actually
achieved by Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and its affiliated
companies depend on a number of risks and uncertainties and
may therefore differ materially from the forward-looking
statements. Many of these factors are outside Henkel's
control and cannot be accurately estimated in advance, such
as the future economic environment and the actions of
competitors and others involved in the marketplace. Henkel
neither plans nor undertakes to update forward-looking
statements.